Oscar injury

[smokeypea]

When i put Ozzies light on this morning to feed him, i saw he had a small graze on his head, its not pitted, its like he scraped it on something, he has a large ormament which he likes to sim in and out and also hide, also 2 plants (not real ones) and gravel, i am going to do a water change today and put some aquarium salt in, he makes so much mess, what else should i do to keep his wound from getting infected? thanks.

[rollie]

you should have some good fish medicine on hand at all times.

pimafix and melafix, is very good, and should help heal his wound.

but there is alot of other types of medicine you could used.

salt will also help to heal his wound, to.

[kimmers318]

I have also had good results from using stress coat and usually see the fish looking better in a couple of days.

[smokeypea]

i did a water change this afternoon, i did add more salt and also put some stress coat which i bought today, the lfs told me to add stress zyme also. Should i also put in some of the med that Rollie suggested now? or wait and see if he gets better, he is eating very good and doesnt seem to be ill, now i am painicing incase its hith, i dont know what that looks like but heard these fish can get it, i do change the water very often and keep his tank clean although he is such a messying eater and poop machine. Should i put in Stress coat in everyday till he heals up or just when i do water changes? thanks for the advice.

[kimmers318]

When I have had to deal with injured fish I treated the entire tank with the amount recommended for damage skin and fins, and then if possible squirted a squirt or 2 just above the injured fish so that as it falls thru the water it gets on them. Give him a couple of days to see how he is doing....don't panic.
As for stress zyme...I could be wrong here, but isn't that product more for bacterial colonization...which most people don't agree that a shelf stored product can culture live bacteria....so if you have an established tank it probably won't do you much good.
Pimafix and melafix, which Rollie recommended are also very good natural medications that won't harm anyone.
As for HITH disease...don't know much there, just a comment from a friend who keeps several oscars that feeding goldfish too often can lead to it....something about the type of protein in the goldfish or something.....google it and see what you can come up with. We seldom feed our oscars any feeders, and if we do, they are fry that I have raised myself.
Good luck and keep us updated on how he does!

[smokeypea]

Thanks to everyone who has been so helpful, Ozzie's head looks a little better, i am checking him all the time, even got him to eat some peas today, i dont ever feed him feeder fish, i dont like the idea of it and i know they can cause problems, i keep checking the water parameters and they are finew, but do 2 water changes per week and he makes so much mess, is there any other vegs that are ok for them to eat? and do they have to be cooked? he wont eat spinach or lettuce or cucumber. he is fussy lol. i read up on HITH so i will know what to look out for, going to get some meds that Rollie suggested tomorrow just in case. thanks again.

[kimmers318]

We haven't had any luck with our oscars and vegs....most of the other fish love them though. Favorites here are frozen beefheart, cichlid delite, bloodworms, dried krill, cichlid flake and pellets would be least favorites, but they will still attack with gusto when hungry.